Mid-Week Lamb Curry

I really wanted to call this credit crunch curry but then decided that the title may be a little off putting,  I wanted to use that name as mince always seems to me to be frugal, however once I had made this and served it to my family and given everybody seconds I realised that it wasn’t frugal but comforting and that's what we all want at the moment.  I use mince here because it takes a lot less time to cook than cubes of lamb and I was aiming for a speedy mid-week family meal.  The look and texture will be better with lamb pieces, but remember to allow for a longer cooking time.  The harissa I used for this recipe is Moroccan, made by Al Fez and comes in a little jar. If you can’t get this brand don’t use the tubed harissa instead as it’s really hot, just leave it out.

A thin slice of butter

5cm piece of ginger peeled

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 long red chillis, deseeded

2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tblsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground black pepper

1kg Lamb mince

1 tsp harissa (Al fez brand) optional

250g natural yogurt

1tsp salt

2 tblsp ground almonds

Juice of 1 lemon

A bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped

Put the ginger, garlic, chilli and onions into a blender and whizz until smooth.  Heat half the butter in a frying pan until foaming and add the onion mixture, cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat then remove to a bowl.  Put the remaining butter onto the pan and add the spices, cook over a low heat for 1 minute then add the lamb mince, turn up the heat and fry until browned, do this in batches if you think that the pan is getting over crowded.

Return the onion mixture to the pan along with the harissa if using, yogurt and 200mls of water, bring to the boil and cover with a lid.  Cook for about 35 minutes, just before serving add the ground almonds and lemon juice, stir through, turn off the heat and add the coriander.  Serve with couscous.

Apricot Slices

If you’re trying to score some brownie points with your children or husband, these should do the trick.  Of course it would be better to use fresh apricots but it’s rare to find juicy ripe ones in Ireland,  I always keep a couple of cans in the cupboard as this only takes a few minutes to put together.  These are lovely to sneak into the lunch boxes on a Friday too.

185g self-raising flour

160g caster sugar

3 eggs

60ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence (supercook vanilla)

180g butter, softened

2 cans of apricot halves

1 handful of caster sugar, for sprinkling over the top

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC.  You’ll need a square tin 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 inch)

Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl.  Measure the milk into a jug, to that jug add the 3 eggs, broken up with a fork, and vanilla essence.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the egg mixture.  Using an electric hand whisk beat until the mixture is smooth then pour the batter into your tin and push the apricot halves into the mixture, cut side up, in straight lines.  Sprinkle the handful of sugar over the top and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool and cut into slices.